Winds, low humidity bedevil Arizona, Colorado firefighters

May 17, 2012|Reuters

By Michael Saucier

PHOENIX, May 17 (Reuters) - Firefighters struggled againststrong winds on Thursday to halt the advance of Arizonawildfires that have charred over 30 square miles of dryponderosa forest, brush and grass, and a blaze in nearbyColorado swelled overnight.

Over 1,000 firefighters in the two states battled at leastfive major blazes from the ground while air tankers andhelicopters made water and fire retardant drops.

The Sunflower Fire, the largest of the blazes in central andeastern Arizona, has burned nearly 20 square miles in the TontoNational Forest, about 40 miles north of Phoenix, fire officialssaid.

Fire crews have managed to carve containment lines aroundjust 10 percent of its perimeter since it erupted over theweekend, fueled by grass, chaparral and pinyon pine. But thefire was expected to slow as it hits previously burned areas andscars from a previous blaze.

"Our major concern is the anticipated red-flag weathertomorrow, which is low humidity and high winds," said Fireinformation officer Rick Hartigan of the Arizona Central WestZone Incident Management team.

The blazes were the first major wildfires in Arizona thisyear, after a record 2011 fire season in which nearly 2,000blazes together swallowed more than 1,500 square miles,according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

The fires left a translucent veil of gray-brown smoke overthe northeast Phoenix valley, obscuring views of the burninghighlands nearby.

The Gladiator Fire, which prompted the evacuation of about350 residents of Crown King in central Arizona earlier in theweek, destroyed another home on Wednesday, bringing to four thenumber of ruined buildings, U.S. Forest Service spokeswomanDebbie Maneely said.

The blaze was caused by a structure fire on privateproperty, authorities said, and it had ripped through nearly 9square miles in the Prescott National Forest.

Officials said the fight against the blaze, which was 5percent contained, might be hampered due to expected high windsthat could force the grounding of retardant-dropping tankers.Crews of 500 firefighters and other workers fought to stop itfrom reaching Crown King.

But they said winds from the southwest may also help inpushing the fire to the north, away from Crown King, accordingto the Forest Service.

The containment of the other two fires, Elwood and BullFlat, were also challenged by high winds.

High winds caused the so-called Hewlett Fire to grow"substantially" and efforts of the roughly 400 firefighters havebeen hampered by the erratic winds and the steep, ruggedColorado terrain, incident commander Todd Richardson said.

The fire ignited on Monday, and fire officials believe itwas human-caused. No structures have been lost but residents inseveral subdivisions in the area have been warned to evacuateshould winds drive flames in their direction.

Last year's Wallow Fire, the largest blaze in the state'shistory, started in late May and torched about 840 square milesof prime forest land in Eastern Arizona. Two Arizona cousins,pleaded guilty to starting that fire when they left a campfireunattended.